We often find it easy to overlook pain.
The flowers left outside the city opera house have long since withered and been cleared away, and the morial ssages once written by mourners on the opera house’s outer walls have also been erased.
Cars rush along the street outside, and inside the opera house, the renovation work has reached its final stages. In about a week, the opera house will be ready to reopen.
Saint Francis now stood on the third-floor balcony, surveying the stage in eerie silence—he hadn’t found what he was looking for.
When Roger had taken hostages at the opera house that day, no one knew who eventually killed him. By the ti Saint Francis arrived, the key Roger had been carrying had already disappeared, though he did find the docunts related to a nuclear warhead.
Since the docunts were in Saint Francis's hands, it ant Roger’s possession of a warhead was still a secret. So why couldn’t the key be found?
Given the circumstances, with nothing found on Roger’s body and no one appearing to have taken it, Saint Francis assud Roger must have hidden it sowhere in the opera house.
This is why he imdiately arranged for surveillance of the site and, under the guise of charity, funded its renovation.
No one had approached it in the anti. Later, the governnt interrogated the gang mbers involved, extracted intelligence, and captured Roger’s remaining associates—aning it was very unlikely the key had slipped out of their grasp.
"Where could it be..." Saint Francis frowned, his hands on the balcony rail.
They had searched the opera house thoroughly, even checking every seat.
“Father.”
Suddenly, a voice called from behind Saint Francis. He turned—it was Cossini.
Saint Francis glanced at his watch and said coldly, “You’re late.”
“I’m sorry, Father,” Cossini apologized. “I ran into a bit of trouble on the way and had to clear out so minor pests.”
“Was it the narcotics enforcent?” Saint Francis frowned.
“Yes, they’ve been tightening their grip lately. But today, I followed your instructions to halt all activities and inform the big bosses to suspend sales… They all agreed. I’ll be going underground for a while.”
Saint Francis nodded, sneering, “That neighboring country is quite sothing… blaming for their problems. Well, no matter, I’ll ruin their economy sooner or later!”
“What’s our next move?” Cossini asked seriously.
Saint Francis smirked, “Make the factories work overti. Produce in bulk!”
Cossini looked puzzled. “But we’ve stopped our operations. Why mass-produce?”
Saint Francis replied calmly, “Since they’ve already accused , I’ll make it a reality. I may not do business here, but I’ll move it over there… a small down paynt of vengeance. If they fear ‘zombies’ appearing in hospitals due to drug addiction, I’ll make their entire society into true ‘zombies’!”
Saint Francis laughed sinisterly, then walked over to Cossini and lifted her hair. “Get dressed up. We’re going to et soone.”
Cossini looked confused.
“We’re eting a certain preacher who’s recently made waves in high society,” Saint Francis said.
“You an the ‘Divine Envoy’ of the Bucky Church?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yes, this Bucky Church… I’ve been searching for Bucky, and suddenly, this so-called Divine Envoy appears, hiding behind a mask… Interesting.”
“Do you think this envoy is Bucky himself?”
Saint Francis shook his head. “Not necessarily. I’ll have to see him myself to judge. If he is Bucky, knowing him, he won’t be able to hide it… But regardless, one thing is certain.”
Seeing her interest, he added, “This church holds considerable influence… its followers include many high-society figures, and even so officials have secretly joined.”
Cossini was stunned. “Even officials? How would the governnt allow this?”
“That’s what’s strange,” Saint Francis sneered. “It seems the governnt, especially the security sector, doesn’t care, making suspect there’s soone powerful backing this church.”
“If that’s the case, then befriending the envoy might be useful,” Cossini nodded. “If your ultimate goal is to secure the presidency, having the support of elites and officials could…”
Saint Francis’s hand lingered on Cossini’s face as he said, “It’s said the Divine Envoy likes the offerings of female followers. Go dress up.”
Cossini nodded in silence.
---
The manor.
What used to be the mansion of Mr. Besong, a re wealthy man, had been replaced by a grand estate—provided, free of charge, by a devout follower for the residence of the “Divine Envoy.”
The manor was filled almost entirely with young, beautiful won, giving it an Amazonian feel. The blessing hall, in particular, had been remodeled to resemble a temple.
The Divine Envoy now sat on an extravagant throne in the blessing hall, surrounded by beautiful maidens clad in sheer robes, symbols of purity.
Decorum had beco intricate, with Besong, now officially appointed as the Divine Envoy’s first servant, compiling his words into the church’s doctrine.
Sitting on his ‘divine throne,’ Bucky couldn’t help but muse... Initially, he just sought an easy life, but he never imagined it would lead to his current role as the omnipotent “Divine Envoy.”
Every day, he barely needed to do anything. Just casting a few blessing spells was enough for him to sit back and watch as his believers' devotion trickled in. Then, he simply had to use that faith to buy things from the Club.
For example, he could buy that addictive at he loved so much, or as of late, he’d also purchased a charm spell to make his believers even more devoted. However, it seed that after he used the charm, while faith was still being generated, the quality seed to diminish a bit.
But since the number of followers was growing rapidly, he figured this temporary drop in quality didn’t matter too much.
"I wonder if, when I accumulate even more faith, I’ll be able to buy a demon to play around with," Bucky mused, rubbing his chin as he grew increasingly eager.
Of course, he wasn’t interested in ordinary demons. Due to a past contract with Lucifer, Bucky had dallied with a few hybrid demons and humans before, but each encounter had left him recuperating for nearly a month.
If he were to indulge, it had to be with a demon of Charlotte’s caliber… or better yet, Charlotte herself.
Bucky rose from his "divine seat," noticing that his body had grown quite muscular lately, probably from continually eating that magical at. He had never been particularly strong, but now, his sculpted muscles were clearly visible.
Several beautiful young won were seated around him, gazing up at him in awe. Just as he considered taking things further with them, the sharp sound of footsteps echoed from the hall below.
Yōu Yè, dressed in a maid's uniform, approached, her black shoes clicking with each step. Bucky glanced at the won around him and saw they had beco utterly motionless, as if petrified. Shaking his head, he removed his mask and stepped down from his "divine seat."
“Well, if it isn’t the esteed Miss Yōu Yè,” Bucky greeted with open arms—though he had no intention of hugging her, simply extending his welco.
He wondered, as he accumulated enough faith, whether he might be able to go beyond just playing around with Charlotte. Could he perhaps…
A flicker of greed flashed in Bucky's eyes. Instantly, though, he felt a crushing pressure, as if death itself lood over him. His heart raced, and cold sweat beaded down his body.
Yōu Yè scrutinized him calmly. “Were you just thinking sothing strange?”
Bucky shivered and quickly replied with a flattering grin, "I was just thinking that your master is a lucky man to have a beautiful servant like you!"
The maid smiled slightly, not even glancing at him as she examined the decor. Bucky discreetly wiped his sweat, his eyes darting as he said, “Miss Yōu Yè, next ti you visit, there's no need to freeze these girls. They’re already my chard slaves; they wouldn’t react to anything they see… they’re rely my toys now.”
“Next ti will be a while from now,” Yōu Yè replied, shaking her head.
Bucky froze, alarm dawning on his face. "A while? Why… Miss Yōu Yè, are you leaving? You can’t leave! What am I supposed to do without you?"
Yōu Yè replied coolly, “My master only assigned to assist you temporarily. Given the current growth of your church, you've made so progress. Your fervent believers will support you well, so I’ll no longer provide you with any free assistance.”
“Th-this…” Bucky hesitated but eventually nodded reluctantly. “Alright…”
Yōu Yè continued, “But don’t worry. Although we’ll be away for now, you won’t be cut off from your purchases.”
With a wave of her hand, a tablet appeared in front of Bucky. He accepted it, looking at her in confusion.
“It’s prepared just for you,” she said. “Once you turn it on, you’ll see a list of items I’ve deed useful for you. If you want to purchase anything, just select it. Think of this tablet as a mobile store terminal.”
“Amazing…” Bucky marveled as he started to operate the tablet. He noticed a string of numbers in the top-right corner and instinctively began counting. "Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands…"
“No need to count,” Yōu Yè said indifferently. “That number is your current faith balance. The tablet is linked to your headdress and will automatically track your faith units. You’re currently seeing the general items catalog, but there’s also a special items section. Prices there are negotiable.”
After a few minutes, Bucky found his favorite magical at on the general catalog. He eagerly tapped the icon.
A prompt for the purchase quantity appeared, with a maximum single purchase quantity of 99. Bucky selected two portions and confird. Previously, each portion cost 50 units, so 100 for two portions seed reasonable.
After confirming, a glowing ring appeared above his head, and two pieces of fresh at dropped into his hands. He bead, "This is so convenient!"
However, his smile quickly faded as he frowned. “Miss Yōu Yè, is there a bug with this terminal? Why did it deduct 107 units? Two portions should be just 100 units!”
“The extra is for delivery,” Yōu Yè said coldly. “Have you ever heard of free shipping? Or is there sothing you’re unhappy about?”
“No, not at all! Absolutely nothing!” Bucky hurriedly shook his head.
“Good,” she smiled sweetly.
Bucky felt his pulse quicken—not because he found her beautiful, but because he knew too well how frightening that smile could be…
“Alright, that’s it for today. Make good use of your mobile terminal. If it breaks, repairs will also be deducted.”
“Understood.” Bucky nodded.
As she turned to leave, Bucky finally relaxed, but just as she reached the door, Yōu Yè turned back, adding quickly, “Oh, I almost forgot. This tablet isn’t a gift; it’s rented. The monthly fee is 800 faith units… so, work hard.”
As she left, Bucky felt sothing was off. Realizing what she’d just said, he yelled, “What? Rent?! I have to pay rent for this thing?!”
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